I owe you an apology. I haven’t written an essay for around a month. I’ve picked up my pen - which is a euphemism from the old days - pretty much every day, scratched my head, squirmed around in my chair, stared off into space or into the fire in the wood stove, and then set my pen back down and I’d go back to just thinking. Thinking about the advice and insight some folks have shared with me. Thinking has interfered with my writing. I’m not sure what that says about me!
My partners, Joe and Mara, and I started the Civil Conversation Project in the summer of 2020 on the heels of the state-sanctioned murders of Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Racial angst had been building for a while and it was a period of extreme national duress. People, even White people, were angry. Really angry. The nation had not forgotten the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville VA where violent White supremacist had gathered to stop the removal of a statue of their hero Robert E. Lee who had led the south in a violent insurrection, anti-White-supremacist protestor Heather Heyer was murdered when a vehicle rammed into her, and two VA State Police died when their helicopter crashed.
Much of the nation was still trying to come to grips with the election of a NYC, self-proclaimed, real estate tycoon who had won on the strength of running a race-baiting campaign and who himself had been sued by the United States Department of Justice for refusing to rent any of his 14,000 NYC apartments in 39 separate buildings to Black people.
This same man, now president, had defended the White Supremacist rioters by saying that both sides had some “very good people.”
2020 seemed to be a year of an unusual amount of racial turmoil. Or maybe Joe and Mara and I were paying unusual attention. 2020 witnessed an unusual number of killings of Black men by law enforcement or by those taking law enforcement into their own hands - like Kyle Rittenhouse - who killed two people who were protesting the shooting in the back of Jacob Blake, yet another Black man shot by law enforcement. To rub salt into the wounds, 17 year old Rittenhouse would be acquitted of the murders and then seemingly canonized and offered congressional staffer jobs by Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, and other members of our United States Congress.
Of course the spark that ignited the 2020 powder keg was the nonchalant, public murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by law enforcement officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s murder kicked off protests across the country, often violent, that ultimately involved 62,000 National Guardsmen, 14 thousand arrests, and between 15 and 26 million protestors.
2020 was another year of moves to suppress the votes of Black and Brown people - worth mentioning on this 59 year plus one day anniversary of Selma’s Bloody Sunday where men and women were beaten almost to death on the Pettus Bridge in Selma by Alabama State Police as the marchers tried to exercise their right, as Americans, to vote.
In the heat of all of this, Joe, Mara, and I were ready to figure out what we could do to diminish what we have come to refer to as America’s Thing With Race, because it’s not just racism. It’s deeper than that. More significant. Our national thing with race is part of the fabric of America. So we jumped into figuring out what we wanted to do and how we could do it. The Civil Conversation Project was the result and the mission statement became, “To bring an end to American racism by telling significant historical and contemporary stories and by engaging in dialogue in order to bring an accurate perspective to the structures and systems that perpetuate racism, thereby informing the public dialogue on the local and national level.” In other words, educate by writing, talking, and bringing people together. That continues to be what we do.
I’ve observed over the course of many years what I believe to be the two biggest obstacles to making greater headway in America’s thing with race. First, many White people simply don’t believe America has a problem with race anymore. Yeah, maybe back in the day. But not now. All that’s been solved. The proof is America has had a Black president.
And second, White people may understand that America has a problem with race, but it’s not really a national problem. It’s a problem for Black and Brown people. White people understand there’s a problem, but they struggle to understand that it’s a huge problem for them…for all of America.
So at my Joe-my-co-founder’s instigation, I asked some long term readers who have given me good insight over the years to tell me about the writing. What do they get out of it? What have they learned that would help them add substance to the passionate, but shallow conversations on race that we’ve all heard? How can The Civil Conversations Project help them to help the country?
I got back a variety of answers. But the most helpful to me suggested that while we continue to help people understand the depth of the problem, to also highlight people and organizations - nonprofit or for profit - that are making a difference. They’re out there. There’s hope. There’s reason to be optimistic. They can be role models. And for those of you asking yourselves - and sometimes asking me - “What can I do?”, they may help you find your own answer to that question.
And kind of along the same lines, a few months ago one of our long term supporters - who has grown to be a friend - asked me where do I find the optimism to keep going. That was a good question. I had to dig around a bit to come up with a meaningful answer. I thought about the long fight that the gay community had to be allowed to marry whom they love and then, in what seemed like the speed of light, the Supreme court ruled that there was nothing that could prohibit gay people from marrying and boom…just like that marriage equality was extended to gay Americans.
Being the good environmentalist that I am, I thought about the many dams that are being removed from rivers to the good of spawning salmon and for the health of the river. Just a very few years ago the removal of a dam was unthinkable. They were money-making, iconic parts of the American landscape supported by large, federal and state bureaucracies.
I thought about people who are smarter than I and what advice they’d left us:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead, noted anthropologist
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States
But here’s the actual bottom line for me: If I care about this country…if I care about the country that those coming behind me are going to inherit , and those coming behind them, then I have to do this work. And so do you. America’s thing with race is way more than Black and Brown people having full and fair access to the American dream. It’s the thing that over the course of four hundred and five years and counting has turned neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, father against son, mother against daughter, numerous political parties against each other, spawned and killed other parties, text book against text book, teachers against parents, and in the bloodiest war America has ever fought, killed the 2024 population equivalent of between seven and nine million people.
We can do this. We can move the needle - dramatically - on America’s Thing With Race. We have to. I have faith.
And this plea…help us reach a million people. Just 994,000 more to go!
Glad you are writing again. I read it twice. I have a problem with your "two biggest obstacles. . white people don't believe there is a problem and second , we don't believe it's a national problem,"
So the PROBLEM is that we don't think there is a PROBLEM.? Hmmm, I need more than that. Something more concrete that allows for more specific discussion and action.
You say we are fraught with racist structure and systems . Yes , some of your stories are from institutional warfare but many are specific people /persons hurting other people/persons.
My take is that the horror of racism that we live with comes from an emotion. It comes from poor or no education . It comes from narrow mindedness and shallow, limited life experiences. It's when someone simply sees you coming down the street and thinks YOU ARE DIFFERENT . You are not the SAME AS ME. Therefore, at least you should be dismissed and at most, you should be ... eliminated.
So, what to do? Thats your job! Keep writing your stories with historical perspective., but find ones that help people realize that their racist emotions and feelings should be dramatically reduced. Stories that tell us that there is no difference. WE ARE ALL JUST THE SAME PEOPLE.